State legislators in Texas and North Carolina are taking bribes (sorry, campaign contributions) from local auto dealers to prevent Tesla from selling cars in their state. They are calling it unfair competition. Unfair because Tesla’s Model S outsold the Mercedes S-Class, BMW 7 Series, and Audi A8 last quarter? Unfair because Consumer Reports is calling the […]

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[Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I’d Thought of That! newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.] By now you know that negative word of mouth can turn into a great opportunity to earn raving fans. But what […]

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Passion. Community. A chance to say, “I’m part of this wonderful thing too!” Are you giving your customers a way to show that they belong? How could they express their love? How can they join the family?

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This is a post from our WordofMouth.org project. Check it out for more great word of mouth marketing tips like this every day. Building a buzzworthy company is a word of mouth marketer’s ultimate goal. When you bake it into your brand and get everyone in the company thinking about how to get people talking, […]

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My wife’s Facebook page is showing ads for the exact pair of eyeglasses that I was shopping for. That violated my privacy. She wasn’t using the same computer. She never went to that merchant’s site (and if she did, she wouldn’t have clicked on that exact product). Clearly the merchant paid a service to connect […]

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Take a look at this truck delivering PODS containers. Three will fit on a truck. If they made them 1 foot longer, only 2 would fit on a truck — raising delivery costs 33%. Lesson: Pay attention to all the details. That extra bit can be the difference between profitability and failure.

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Send an email to bloggers like me and they’ll write about you sometimes. It worked for Bill in yesterday’s post. You don’t need a fancy campaign or a PR firm to get blogged about. Just give them a tip on a good story. In fact, the more polished, fancy, and produced your blogger outreach campaign is, […]

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Bill Kerschbaum shares a great example of the best kind of word of mouth marketing for small business — straightforward, inexpensive, and light-hearted: I’m a freelance technical writer, and some of my clients are engineers (naturally). So, for Pi Day (3/14 = 3.14) I’m hand delivering them a pie from a local bakery. Not only that, but […]

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[Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I’d Thought of That! newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.] Customer service isn’t just about fixing problems after they happen — it’s also about proactively making sure your customers are happy. […]

I taught word of mouth marketing at Northwestern University and internet entrepreneurship at the Wharton School of Business. I’m a serial entrepreneur who founded and advises startups and nonprofits. And I’m a rabid purist on the topic of marketing ethics.

About This Blog

"Damn, I Wish I'd Thought of That!" is full of unusually useful ideas borrowed from the smartest marketers. Good marketing is more about brains than bucks. The best business ideas are easy to do, inexpensive, simple, and fun. Learn to simplify your business, earn word of mouth, and thrill your customers.